The Documentary Podcast
Episodes
Gagarin and the lost Moon
22 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
On 12 April 1961, cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became an explorer like none other before him, going faster and further than any human in history, into what ...
Israel and Gaza
22 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
After 11 days of conflict, a ceasefire has been agreed between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas. The violence in that time killed more ...
Syria’s decade of conflict: Damascus diary
20 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Syrian born reporter Lina Sinjab presents a special series from Assignment’s award winning archive on the 10 years of civil war in her country. In 2...
Speaking out
18 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
London-based broadcaster Edward Adoo and US DJ T Storm team up to discuss the experiences of black people who are stopped and searched in their countr...
Coronavirus: Healthcare workers and burnout
15 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Dr Solelwa Sifumba in Johannesburg, South Africa, recently left the profession after experiencing such chronic anxiety that it even led to her conside...
Saving the vaquita
13 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Jacques Cousteau called Mexico’s Sea of Cortez, ‘the aquarium of the world’. It is home to one of the most critically endangered species on eart...
Bob Marley: An extraordinary day
11 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Forty years after the death of reggae singer Bob Marley, British writer and dub poet, Benjamin Zephaniah, remembers the day Jamaica came to a standsti...
Our story: Part two
08 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
For the past seven years, Marlo has been making a podcast about life as a single mum raising her transgender daughter. In this programme Marlo reaches...
Coronavirus: Pilots and trainee doctors
08 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The pandemic has caused millions of job losses during the past year. The travel industry is one area that has been badly affected as many countries cl...
Myanmar: The spring revolution
06 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
More than 750 people have been killed by the Myanmar military since they seized power in a coup three months ago. Mass protests demanding a return to ...
Where is Jack Ma?
04 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
On the eve of what would have been the world's largest share listing, Ant Financial founder Jack Ma, the Chinese billionaire mysteriously disappeared....
Our story: Part one
01 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
For the past seven years, Marlo has been making a podcast about life as a single mum raising her transgender daughter. In the first programme, Marlo e...
Coronavirus: India
01 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
A second coronavirus wave is ravaging many parts of India and the health services continue to struggle. Two doctors in Delhi and Mumbai share their ex...
The Battle of Palma
29 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
At the end of March, hundreds of militants linked to the Islamic State group overran a small, but strategic coastal town in northern Mozambique. The b...
Don't log off: My life, my world
27 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Alan Dein follows Rohan, a young Jamaican farmer over the past 12 months as he is faced by the twin challenges of drought and the pandemic.
Dance Divas: 1988-1998
24 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Sampling technology created new opportunities for producers but raised questions of authenticity and authorship in the industry. Some of the biggest d...
Coronavirus: Sudan
24 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Sudan has recorded only 32,000 cases of coronavirus infections and just 2,300 Covid-19 related deaths so far. It is also rolling out vaccines. But the...
Prince belong Vanuatu
23 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Villagers believe Prince Philip is returning to his ancestral home on their Pacific island. In a handful of villages on the island of Tanna, in Vanuat...
America’s solitary inmates
22 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Since the pandemic struck, millions around the world have endured lockdowns, with many finding it hard to tolerate long periods indoors. But what if l...
Don't log off: My life, my world
20 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Alan Dein hears how the pandemic year has affected the life of 19-year-old student Mursalina in Kabul, Afghanistan. She has been studying at home onli...
Dance divas: 1978-1988
17 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
We meet Yvonne Turner, Rebecca Mackenzie, Carol Cooper, Gail Sky King and Sharon White who were all Paradise Garage regulars from its opening in the l...
Coronavirus: Surviving isolation
17 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The pandemic has caused many people to feel lonely and isolated. For three women, the isolation is as a result of travelling and having to quarantine ...
The day I met Prince Philip
17 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Over his seven decades of service to Queen Elizabeth the Second, to the United Kingdom, her 15 other realms, and to the Commonwealth, Prince Philip, t...
Sexual healing in the Israeli military
15 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Soldiers returning from the line of duty with injuries affecting sexual performance are universal to all militaries around the world, but Israeli psyc...
Don't log off: My life, my world
13 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Alan Dein follows 25-year-old entrepreneur Fahad in Dhaka, Bangladesh who has to deal with the pressures of running multiple businesses during the pan...
Coronavirus: Loss of smell and taste
10 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The loss of smell and taste is now considered one of the major symptoms of Covid-19 and it can have a huge impact on people’s lives - especially whe...
The other caliphate
10 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
For five brutal months in 2017 the black flag of so-called Islamic State fluttered over a captured city, and thousands of lives were destroyed. But ra...
HRH Prince Philip: A celebration of a life
10 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Buckingham Palace has announced the death of Prince Philip, the husband of Queen Elizabeth II. He was 99 years old. Tuppence Middleton presents a cele...
HRH Prince Philip: Links with the armed forces
10 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Jonny Dymond looks back at Prince Philip's links with the armed forces, and his time as an officer in the Royal Navy. He tells the story of the Duke o...
HRH Prince Philip: His work with charity
10 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Kate Humble looks at the impact Prince Philip made on the world through his work with international charities. She learns how the Duke of Edinburgh's ...
The life of Prince Philip
10 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Buckingham Palace has announced the death of Prince Philip, the husband of Queen Elizabeth II. He was 99 years old. Edward Stourton tells the story of...
Denmark: Goodbye to mink
08 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Can Denmark's mink industry rise again? Denmark was the world's top producer of mink for the luxury market. Last year a coronavirus variant was found ...
Don’t log off: My life, my world
06 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Alan Dein follows Margaret in Uganda, who cares for nine children orphaned by Aids and who has HIV herself. Told through interviews and her own smartp...
Coronavirus: Brazilian doctors
03 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Brazil's health service has been pushed to the brink as coronavirus cases continue to climb. Some 66,570 people died of Covid-19 in March, more than d...
Namibia: The price of genocide
01 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
More than a century after its brutal colonisation of Namibia, including what it now accepts was the genocide of the Herero and Nama peoples, Germany i...
Women dying for work
30 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Karoshi, or death from overwork, has been common in Japan for decades. It is often seen as part of ‘salary man’ culture where men commit themselve...
The coronavirus and your money
28 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
After a year of lockdowns and Covid restrictions, Manuela Saragosa and Devina Gupta take a global look at jobs, pay and financial wellbeing. They look...
Joe Biden's border challenge
27 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
As a presidential candidate, Joe Biden promised a more humane approach to migration on the US-Mexico border. But right now, more than 17,000 unaccompa...
Coronavirus: Homelessness
27 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The coronavirus has changed almost everyone’s lives and for some losing their jobs has led to homelessness. Edward in the United States had to sleep...
Shipping’s dirty secret
25 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The shipping industry is worth millions to the world economy and we depend on it for most of our goods. Assignment lifts the lid on the dangerous and ...
A constitutional conversation
23 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
How do you solve a problem like America? A land where speech is free - but hate rules the airwaves. A land of opportunity - where 40 million people li...
World of wisdom: Love
21 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Eckhart Tolle, Dr Shefali Tsabary and Sister Dang Nghiem offer advice to members of the public from across the world as they respond to the challenge ...
World of wisdom: Breathe
20 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Eckhart Tolle, Dr Shefali Tsabary and Sister Dang Nghiem offer advice to members of the public from across the world as they explore life-lessons in t...
What happened with the AstraZeneca vaccine?
20 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Some of the European Union's biggest nations have restarted their roll-out of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine after the medicines regulator concluded i...
Coronavirus: Reporting Covid-19
20 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
During the last year hundreds of people across the globe have shared their experiences on the programme about living during a pandemic. This time, we ...
Scotland's contested identity
18 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
For over three hundred years the union of England and Scotland has held firm through war and poverty but in recent years some people north of the bord...
What does the future hold? Covid, women and the US economy
16 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
From women in senior management positions, to women-owned start-ups, to low income families, Covid poses difficult questions about how to adapt to an ...
The Royal Family’s missed chance
13 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
It has been a turbulent week for the British royal family following Harry and Meghan's explosive sit-down with Oprah Winfrey. On Thursday, Prince Will...
Coronavirus: Resilience during a year of the pandemic
13 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
One year ago, the World Health Organisation announced that Covid-19 was spreading across different countries at such an alarming rate that it needed t...
The disinformation dragon
11 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Prior to the Hong Kong pro-democracy movement and the Covid 19 pandemic, China’s presence on social media was largely to promote a positive image of...
The empty desk: Women, Covid and the US economy
09 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
A year ago American women out-numbered men in the workforce for the first time. Now, after a year of Covid pandemic that process has gone into reverse...
The Saudis and the superpower
06 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Joe Biden promised to be tough on Saudi Arabia. But this week, he stopped short of punishing the kingdom's crown prince despite US intelligence holdin...
Coronavirus: War and Covid trauma
06 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
We hear from two US veterans who served during the war in Vietnam about the similarities between their experiences and the trauma experienced by many ...
Biden's world
04 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
President Biden claims “America is back”. He plans to put diplomacy first and restore long-standing American alliances. His predecessor, President...
A year of Covid
02 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In March 2020 the UK was gearing up to face the Covid-19 pandemic. Cases were increasing rapidly and by the end of month the country was in full lockd...
Facebook's global power and influence
27 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
After a series of damaging scandals, many critics believe the social media giant has become too powerful and should be broken up. This week, Ros Atkin...
Coronavirus: Venezuela's hospitals
27 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Venezuela’s hospitals are dealing with a pandemic at a time when the country is already in an economic crisis. Many hospitals don’t have running w...
Kenya’s unhappy doctors and nurses
25 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
All over the world, frontline health workers have paid the ultimate price during the coronavirus pandemic. But in Kenya the story of one young doctor’...
I am Robert Chelsea
23 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Robert Chelsea suffered horrific burns after his stationary car was hit by a truck with a drunk driver at the wheel, in Los Angeles in 2013. He surviv...
How the Irish shaped Britain
21 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
With migration, integration and assimilation dominating much public debate, Fergal Keane explores the profound influence, over many centuries, of the ...
Covid-19: The cost of keeping schools closed during a pandemic
20 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
With thousands of schools still closed around the world, there are increasingly urgent warnings about the impact this pandemic is having on millions o...
Coronavirus: Living in a refugee camp
20 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Tasneem recently graduated from university. Like everyone else, her future is on hold because of coronavirus. But for Tasneem it is a particularly unc...
Drug-free in Norway?
18 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Can Norwegians with psychosis benefit from radical, drug-free treatment? In a challenge to the foundations of western psychiatry, a handful of Norway’...
Inside the brain of Jeff Bezos
16 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
David Baker reveals the thinking and the values that made Jeff Bezos the richest man on the planet, and Amazon the most wildly successful company, eve...
World Wide Waves: The sounds of community radio
14 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
We may think we live in a digital age, but only half the world is currently online. Across the globe, small radio stations bind remote communities, pl...
The slow search for the origin of Covid-19
13 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
As scientists from the World Health Organisation release the findings of their latest visit to Wuhan, Ros Atkins looks at the reasons why so much rema...
Coronavirus: The vaccinated
13 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Around the world, millions of people are receiving their first dose of vaccines against Covid-19. Healthcare workers are often prioritised and today w...
Unmasked: Stories from the PPE frontline
11 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Personal protective equipment like masks and gloves are the last line of defence for healthcare workers on the frontline, preventing them from getting...
Coronavirus Front Line: The search for a vaccine - part two
09 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The medical teams at Bradford investigate the hesitancy over the Covid-19 vaccine. A team of young ambassadors is recruited to help build trust locall...
Coronavirus: Guilty mums
06 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Many parents are finding it hard to be a teacher and a parent at the same time during this pandemic. Two mums - Priya in India and Mputle in South Afr...
Trump impeachment: The Republicans' dilemma
06 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
As Donald Trump’s second impeachment trial approaches, Ros Atkins looks at the decisions that Republicans face over the former US president’s role...
Europe’s most dangerous capital
04 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Bucharest, in Romania, is arguably Europe’s most dangerous capital city. It’s not the crime that’s the problem – it’s the buildings. Many of...
Coronavirus Front Line: The search for a vaccine
02 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Over the last few months the race has been on to create and test a vaccine for Covid -19. Over 200 are in development and some are now licensed and gi...
Compassion fatigue
31 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Compassion fatigue has long been an issue for people in the medical and humanitarian professions. People often enter those worlds because of a desire ...
Coronavirus: Vaccine hesitancy among ethnic minorities
30 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Millions of people across the world are currently being vaccinated against Covid-19. Black, Asian and Latino groups have been the hardest hit by the f...
The exiles: Hong Kong at a crossroads
28 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Over a year ago, two young men who met over the internet as Hong Kong was gripped by months of pro-democracy protests. They shared a common interest i...
Donald Trump and me
26 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In one of America’s reddest states, Idaho, local Republicans reflect on Donald Trump’s rise to the White House. What were their hopes for the most...
Voices from the Ghetto
24 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Codenamed Oyneg Shabbat (Joy of the Sabbath), a team of 'researchers' wrote and collected documents detailing life and death inside the ghetto. The se...
President Biden: Call for unity
23 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The new US President Joe Biden inherits a deeply divided country - whether by politics, race or religion. We hear from evangelical Christians in Ohio ...
Lisa Montgomery: The road to execution
21 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Lisa Montgomery’s crime was an especially abominable murder: In 2004 in the small mid-West American town of Skidmore, she strangled an expectant mot...
President-elect Joe Biden
19 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
On Wednesday, 20 January Joe Biden will be sworn in as America’s 46th president of the United States, after scoring a record-breaking victory on his...
My viral video and me
17 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Colm Flynn tracks down the internet's original viral video superstars and reveals how becoming an online sensation changed their life. So many people ...
Coronavirus: Young widows
16 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Each Covid-19 death has a tremendous personal impact on loved ones. Host Nuala McGovern talks to three women who have lost their husbands to the disea...
Social influencers and the perfect body
14 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In the age of social media and the selfie, the perfect look is everything. That's what online influencers tell their followers. Some are also happy to...
The digital human: Sacred
13 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Sacred objects and places are often imbued with memories - memories we cherish, which define who we are. Aleks Krotoski asks if technology can be a co...
Vice President-elect Kamala Harris
12 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The California senator has made history in three ways – as the first woman, first black person and first person of Indian origin to be elected as vi...
Coronavirus: Intensive care
09 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
As vaccines begin to be administered in several countries, many places are experiencing worrying rises in cases and deaths from Covid-19. One effect i...
Libya's Brothers from Hell
07 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Amid the anarchy of post-Revolution Libya, seven brothers from an obscure background gradually took over their home town near Tripoli. They're accused...
The Digital Human: Ghoul
06 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Violent content online has rightly been condemned, yet while we criticise those facilitating the supply we rarely talk about the demand. Aleks Krotosk...
Donald Trump: The political record
05 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
What is Donald Trump’s political and policy legacy? Nada Tawfik explores how four years of the Trump presidency has challenged US policy conventions...
Donald Trump: The man
05 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Donald Trump was the businessman and TV show host who became the 45th President of the United States, with huge power and resources at his fingertips....
Coronavirus: Forgotten voices
02 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Host Nuala McGovern checks in with two so-called Covid-19 ''long-haulers'', who are still enduring symptoms several months after catching the disease....
BBC correspondents' look ahead
01 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
There were times in 2020 when the world felt like an out of control carousel and we could all have been forgiven for just wanting to get off and to wa...
Breakthrough: The race for the Covid vaccine
01 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Dr Kevin Fong talks to the people who have seemingly achieved the impossible and created a coronavirus vaccine in a matter of months. Speaking to the ...
Searching for Wisdom in Lagos
31 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
A young woman is desperately searching for her brother in Lagos. On the night of 20th October, Nigerian soldiers opened fire at a peaceful demonstrat...
The Digital Human: Subservience
30 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Aleks Krotoski finds out if how we treat our subservient robots impacts how we treat one another. As with any new invention, domestic robots illuminat...
The Hindu bard
29 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
In 1914 a 19-year-old Indian student caused a sensation when she was awarded the top prize - the bardic chair - at the 1914 University College of Wale...
Revolution of the senses
27 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Four radio producers present intimate stories of people across Europe, revealing the effect of Covid 19 on their experience of touch, sight, sound, sm...
Coronavirus: Surviving the pandemic
26 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
After hearing so many incredibly moving stories since the pandemic was first declared, we’ve decided to return to some of those people to hear how t...
The Digital Human: Messiah
23 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Why do so many of us treat Silicon Valley billionaires like our new messiahs? For some, people like Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and engineer Elon Mus...